Natalia Hals, left, owner of A Woman’s Design, a doula and childbirth consulting business, turns to talk to Kiah Whitmore’s husband during has a postpartum follow-up visit with Kiah and her newborn, Elijah Whitmore, in Whitmore’s Brooklyn Center home on Friday, April 29, 2016. Kiah says to her baby, “Do you remember she (Natalia) helped you come into the world? She kept me from being insane!” After a 34-hour labor, followed by an emergency C-section, Kiah gave birth to Elijah on March 25 with Hals’ help. (Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

Related Articles

Leaders of communities of color remain skeptical that the state will accomplish anything meaningful to close racial gaps. Many wonder why the solutions often proposed by mostly white state leaders continue to focus on agencies and programs that failed for years to get results.

That’s not to say there haven’t been success stories, or existing programs and initiatives that show promise.

Many in communities of color say wise investments in education, workforce initiatives and social supports paired with common sense policy changes could begin to address the state’s racial disparities. But they say new efforts should be focused directly on the people they aim to help.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Muneer Karcher-Ramos, St. Paul Promise Neighborhood

St. Paul’s Frogtown and Summit-University neighborhoods are part of an intense social support initiative being piloted in five Minnesota communities as well as other cities nationwide.

Modeled after the Harlem Children’s Zone in New York, St. Paul’s Promise Neighborhood brings together schools, local agencies and community groups in a coalition focused on breaking the cycle of multi-generational poverty. Similar efforts are underway in North Minneapolis, St. Cloud, Red Wing and Northfield.

Muneer Karcher-Ramos, executive director of St. Paul’s initiative, says Promise Neighborhoods look to reknit the frayed fabric of communities of color. Children and families are at the core of the work with advocates wanting to intervene when residents are still in the cradle and support them until they have established careers.

“We ask ourselves: How do we build a community, one family at a time,” Karcher-Ramos said.

In St. Paul, a big part of the Promise Neighborhood’s efforts are working to better connect parents in the predominately black and Asian community with their local schools.

Preventing homelessness, improving school readiness and getting elementary students to read well by third grade also are top priorities.

Karcher-Ramos says the programs started small, but their reach is growing and paying off. They hope to help house nearly 100 homeless families with 250 children by the end of summer, and school readiness and tutoring programs are closing academic gaps.

Federal grants helped get the Promise Neighborhood initiatives launched in 2010. Since then, the state has boosted funding for the programs with the current two-year budget including $2 million.

“Not a single program can solve a community’s problems. The Promise Neighborhood’s job is to band everyone together and move them in one direction,” Karcher-Ramos said. “We are seeing this model works, and it can be scaled and replicated.”

CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

Wintana Melekin, Neighborhoods Organizing for Change

A 2012 rally in support of Trayvon Martin, the black Florida teen killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer, brought Minneapolis resident Wintana Melekin into the field of community activism. But Melekin says it was the way she saw fellow black residents treated by police that made her dedicate that activism to criminal justice reform.

Melekin works with Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, or NOC, one of several groups pushing state lawmakers to reform a criminal justice system they believe treats Minnesotans of color unfairly. About 20 percent of the state’s population are racial and ethnic minorities, but they make up nearly half the prison population.

Melekin and other advocates say key changes to the criminal justice system — a robust police body camera policy, sentencing reforms, a ban on for-profit prisons and restoring voting rights to felons who have served their time — can help address Minnesota’s racial disparities.

“We need to disinvest in broken systems and failed policies, and invest in communities,” Melekin said.

Body cameras should be used as a public safety oversight tool to hold police accountable and protect the community, Melekin says.

Lawmakers should reject the proposal to reopen and have the state run the private prison in Appleton, Minn., Melekin said. Instead, they should ban new and private corrections facilities.

The Legislature should allow planned sentencing reforms to become law and look hard at other incarceration guideline changes, she said.

“When you profit from people’s misery and incarceration, you are going to do whatever is profitable for you,” Melekin said. “Our state should be investing in keeping people out of prison.”

SMALL-BUSINESS ASSISTANCE

Natalia Hals, A Woman’s Design

Natalia Hals, owner of A Woman’s Design. (Courtesy photo)

After a career in real estate, Natalia Hals wanted to do something more meaningful that gave her more control over her life. Hals decided she wanted a career supporting other women. After conducting research and going through training, she opened A Woman’s Design, a doula and childbirth services provider, in Roseville in 2010.

From the beginning, Hals’ new venture faced challenges. She struggled to earn a fair wage for her services as perceptions of doulas and the childbirth services they provide evolved.

“It was not enough to live on but too much for many mothers to afford,” Hals said.

Then, when she was ready to expand her business and hire more people, Hals struggled to get a business loan. After several applications, she couldn’t secure the financial support she needed to grow her business.

“For the first couple years, I invested everything back into the company,” Hals said. “When it was time to expand, banks all rejected me without a lot of information as to why.”

That’s when Hals turned to WomenVenture, a Minneapolis organization dedicated to aiding women business owners. The group helped Hals improve her business plan and secure a loan to expand her business.

As Minnesota works to address its racial inequities, many community advocates say supporting small-business owners of color like Hals is essential. Business owners of color tend to hire other people of color, and their ventures are often community focused.

Like Hals, many struggle to find access to capital and the supports they need to make their business ideas a reality.

“I just needed a little push to take me to the next phase, then I could do so much more,” Hals said. “Sometimes, it’s just having the right mentor or knowing about the right group. You have to keep turning over rocks and knocking on doors.”

CULTURAL LIAISON

Allison Waukau, Roseville schools

When Allison Waukau joined Roseville schools as a cultural liaison last year, the district estimated it had about 50 Native American students. After half a school year’s worth of work, Waukau found 138 students with Native American heritage.

Part of the reason for the discrepancy, Waukau explains, is that native students have to fill out a special form to be counted. That’s tricky for students and can be especially challenging for those who identify with more than one racial or ethnic group.

“Now that they see me doing things with students, they see there is a reason to fill out the form,” Waukau said.

It may sound simple, but Waukau’s work to better identify and relate to the students who make up the state’s increasingly diverse school population is an important part of addressing the state’s racial gaps. Cultural liaisons work to break down the barriers students face related to culture and language and to help their families connect better with their schools.

“It gives them an identity and a confidence that is important to success in school and in life,” she said. “They don’t feel so isolated and alone.”

Waukau hopes more Minnesota students will soon benefit from the work cultural liaisons do. Without their insight, it’s harder for many educators to understand and address the challenges these students face.

“They ignored their culture in school because there wasn’t a reason to bring it up before,” Waukau said of her Native American students. “Without someone like me, it’s hard for natives to start talking about disparities. We won’t bring it up unless there is a reason to.”

STUDENT SUPPORTS

Julie Vang, University of Minnesota student

Julie Vang, a University of Minnesota student and St. Paul native. (Courtesy photo)

Growing up in St. Paul’s McDonough Homes public housing, Julie Vang realized at an early age that a good education was a key to prosperity.

“My family experiences, their sacrifices and their losses, makes me strive for success here in America,” said the daughter of Hmong refugees with 11 siblings.

But it took more than hard work in school for Vang to get where she is now: on the verge of earning a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota. She hopes to enter graduate school in the fall.

Vang says her path to a college degree was more complex than most and that she needed direction along the way. That direction wasn’t always available at home.

“I couldn’t have done it myself,” Vang said. “I joined every group I could. Having that exposure helped me develop both as a student and professionally.”

Minnesota needs more students like Vang to be successful in college. When working to address racial gaps, Vang hopes state leaders will pay special attention to the various programs and student groups that give students of color the skills they need to succeed.

School clubs, mentors and help with financial literacy all played a role in getting Vang into college and earning a degree. She hopes those resources will be expanded to more people in her neighborhood.

“I knew at home I wouldn’t have all the help and guidance I needed,” Vang said. “Having access to it in my community really helped me.”

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

Rounding up all the BLM’ers and kicking them out of the state would do wonders for the race relations problems they caused. MLK would be horrified at this anarchist gang.

I-am-N

I want all to succeed. The issue is that we just will not do what it takes.
1. End illegal immigration. This would cut Black unemployment.
2. Forget about minimum wage. Let’s work on getting people into the next levels of work.
3. Cut corporate taxes, especially on bringing money back to the US. This will drastically increase investment in US jobs.
4. Cut the regulations that hurt small to medium sized businesses. Small to medium sized businesses, like those above need money to survive and grow. They are the biggest job creators in the US.
5. Allow our resources to be used.
Once these are taken care of, we can improve incentives to save and invest. Also, cut government size, cost, and waste so the people can have more money to put into the economy, to create more jobs.

Jay Eagle

Ending illegal immigration would have almost no effect on black unemployment. Black unemployment was high way before immigration was ever an issue. Cutting corporate taxes (like in 2001-2009) had no positive effect on employment. As a matter of fact, the economy crashed. Trickle down doesn’t work, as evidenced by both Reagan and Dubya. I agree small businesses need help. The biggest help they could receive would be to bust up Walmart and these other octopus corporations that smother small businesses. As for our resources, we do allow them to be used, but you don’t want people to foul our nest either. Read about how well that is working in China.

David Green

Maybe they are just lazy and feel entitled

all heart

Gold Star for the day, for that comment. Get ready for the racist attacks for saying the truth!

Jay Eagle

If they are, it’s because they have learned it from the 1% or from watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Whodunnit

Yeah, lets blame those 1% who worked their butts off in school and strive to succeed. Its all their fault uneducated black folks can’t own a fleet of cars

I-am-N

Pants on fire! Cutting taxes did wonders for JFK and Reagan. With Reagan, it took us through the Clinton years. We had close to 10% growth for years. What are we growing at now? We are happy to hit 2.

If you want less of something, you tax it. That is why there are sin taxes on soda…. The most immediate, devastating example is Clinton’s sin tax. There was an immediate smack down on jobs when it was enacted and I doubt if it lasted a month,

There is a difference between fouling one’s nest and using resources. It is just like we can have sidewalks without having everyone cover them in spit.

Jay Eagle

Reagan’s administration was an economic disaster, and everyone knows it. It was so disasterous that it led to George Bush being defeated by Bill Clinton in’92 with the phrase “it’s the economy, stupid.” THAT is how successful Reagan’s policies were. Where were you in the 80’s, out of the country?

Matt

I don’t understand why cutting taxes on the rich and corporations (who pay the vast majority of the tax burden in this nation already) is poopooed as “trickle down economics doesn’t work”, but government sponsored and mandated theft of those funds and enriching the lazy masses with handouts and welfare is the acceptable practice. We have taken away all incentive to work hard in this country. Why work when the government will take care of you for free? When we surpass that tipping point (and we are perilously close to it) where a bigger portion of the populace is paid NOT to work, than is paid TO work, the latter are going to throw up their hands and join the former. Then this country is screwed. Well, we are already screwed, we’re just watching the train wreck in slow motion. But as long as a large portion of the population continue to be paid for votes, we will circle further and further down the drain.

Randy T.

Only 5% of the federal budget is welfare. Listening to you guys you would think it’s a whole lot more. Your statement that a large portion of the population is paid for their vote is just a stupid statement. Lazy masses? Where did you get your creative writing degree?

all heart

And I quote: “Leaders of communities of color remain skeptical that the state will accomplish anything meaningful to close racial gaps. Many wonder why the solutions often proposed by mostly white state leaders continue to focus on agencies and programs that failed for years to get results.”
If said leaders are Al and Jessie disciples I suggest that the and their followers find a state that will cater to them.

FlyingFarang

May I add that if these “Leaders of communities of color ” don’t approve of the solutions proposed by the white leaders then do it yourself. Just why aren’t they doing it themselves anyway instead of complaining to Whitey about it?

WeekendThinker

They can’t do it themselves since they won’t stay in school long enough to learn what they need to be a leader. It’s easier to blame Whitey than to take responsibility for they’re own actions or lack there-of.

Nobama

All they do is wine about not enough more free money for their Bi.CH.es…..That they won’t support.

Whodunnit

You mean the government wasn’t established to hold our hands from birth to death? Some people have no desire to be independent and need the government to tell them they can’t put a plastic bag over their head. Ridiculous

Gator

The story above had a lot of words. Let me give you a short story that is probably more useful to read.

Stay in school. Pay attention while you’re there, and stay out of trouble.
Stay out of jail – during and after your school years.
Have babies after you are out of school, employed, and married.

mdachs

The solution is very simple, as you point out. Pumping more money into programs or establishing new programs will not solve the problem.

Jay Eagle

Unfortunately, a lot of the kids going through the system are damaged way before they are able to make the right decisions. Perhaps the first directive on your list should be “pick better parents.”

Rusty Shackleford

They not only have to deal with parent issues but cultural issues. This is not a race issue but a cultural problem.

Tom

Increasing the number of parents in “communities of color” who give a damn about parenting their kids needs to come before any outside spending. Otherwise, it is all futile and yet more money down the rat hole.

Matt

That’s their intention, keep pouring more and more money into that rat hole they call their pockets.

FlyingFarang

“Business owners of color tend to hire other people of color” I guess employment laws are not treated equally.

WeekendThinker

And they say race can’t be a consideration for getting hired for a job. Yep. Ok.

WeekendThinker

You can lead a horse to water, but you can not make him drink.

You can send a kid to school, but you can not make him learn.

By the time a kid gets into school, the basics should already be in place. You teach your own kids how to behave at a very young age.

This article gives examples of students that actually made it. It wasn’t handed to them on a silver platter. The did it the old fashioned way. THEY EARNED IT.
More jobs won’t help many of these fools. They don’t want jobs. Well, a lot of employers don’t want them either. I wouldn’t hire anyone that thinks it’s appropriate to walk around with my boxers showing and pants down below the crack. And it’s those pieces of ….. who’s mommies cry the loudest about what her baby isn’t getting.
Well Mom. Teach your kids by example. Clean up your mouths and get rid of the trash in your home that is teaching your kids bad stuff.

Kids that apply themselves can get ahead. No on starts at the top. It isn’t easy. No one said it would be. Most of us have had to work long and hard for what we have. You need to work for what you want. If that’s a good job, then get your behinds out of bed, go to school and take all that is being offered.

Or stay in the streets and see if you live past the ripe old age of 25. Street life isn’t a nice life to live.

Jay Eagle

I can think of a couple of street corners I would like to see you preach this from. I would sell popcorn and invite my friends to watch the show.

Patty Stacks

Reading the profile of Wintana Malekin, she must frequent the area buffets with Nekima Levy-Pounds to talk shop. She has a bright future as an SJW and race agitatior.

chris black

Yeah, they lost me at ‘Treyvon Martin’.

bcdctf

Don’t vote Democrat, they give you some freebies, not much, just enough to keep your votes.

I-am-N

One also needs to realize that the Democrats have pretty much focused on their out of work – poor, and uber rich. Those working in the middle are long gone abandoned. The only person really fighting for you is Trump. But the media is working overtime to keep the sheep in line.

Randy T.

Democratic Governor elected twice. Two Democrat U. S. Senators. Soon a new Democrat as president and a woman to boot. You must be an awfully angry person. It will be fun to hear the crying and moaning for the next eight years. I bet you’re a Trump guy.

Ben

Dayton is a total quack, a con artist on taxpayers, and a man-child bully. Franken is NY carpetbagger and Amy is an out of touch elitist with a last name affiliated with the Strib across the river. None of these morons even represent ordinary Minnesotans other than listening to their donor base. TRUMP 2016!!!!!!

Randy T.

Good luck to you on that. Enjoy President Clinton.

racefan55448

Will she still be president after she is indicted.

imdbcooper

Blah blah blah…what a crock..How about initiative, work ethic and persistence in accomplishing goals like an education.

I-am-N

… Like the business owner up in the story? That is exactly the kind of thing we need to encourage.

#1 on the list would have to be to pick better parents. By the time kds can do your aforementioned list, they have already been damaged, beyond repair in some cases.

Randy0101

Do you just copy and paste that garbage?
Absolving these communities of their horrible, destructive culture is not the answer.

Fred, just Fred

I wonder if it ever occurs to communities of color how much of an insult it is to have taken the charity so many people have shown them and ussed it to run amok. We pay more to educate their kids every year, and every year their kids become more unruly and ineducable. We pay to feed the children they have out of wedlock, and they grow to be fine, strong and violent criminals.

Others have made the obvious observations, I’ll just add that time is running short. People are getting sick of being taken for suckers. Clean up your act and society will welcome you.

barney911

Wait wait wait…don’t throw any money at it yet. Just please as the question Why? They we don’t have to spend a dime.

You’re on to something here. Maybe that is why the “business community” is against raising the minimum wage. They would rather pass that cost on to the taxpayers. If they paid livable wages, we would not have to spend as much on the programs you mention.

I-am-N

Livable wage is a lie. Minimum wage jobs are for those with no experience. If someone has skills, they get above minimum wage.

The real issue is that the economy over the past several years, stinks. We need to have real growth but that is not allowed.

Whodunnit

You’re missing the point that Minnesota’s unemployment rate is far below the national average. Making the assumption that people who don’t want to work now, will suddenly want to work if the wages rise. When they realize they will be no further ahead than they were on the government dole, they’ll quit those 15.00 an hr jobs and be back on welfare. Higher paying jobs begin with parenting and encouraging their kids to want to learn in school and advance on to college. So if they raise the minimum wage for 15.00, and a business currently has 100 just out of college students making near that as a starting wage, do they raise their incomes as well? People with college degrees and 40k + student loans will not stay at a company where their coworker who barely passed the 9th grade earns the same wage. Would you want 100 new employees with no education in exchange for college students?

spleeneater

fund the anticapitalist post-Marxist activist friends of Keith Ellison with increased taxation so that they can get out the vote for more taxation for more friends. rinse and repeat

Jay Eagle

Unfortunately, a lot of the kids going through the system are damaged way before they are able to make the right decisions. Perhaps the first directive on the list should be “pick better parents.”

all heart

That explains Randy T. Thank You.

Randy0101

Mmmm….copypasta is my favorite.
Of course, you’re premise it terribly flawed and ridiculous, but copypasta is soooo good!

Alfonse

Maybe they should go to school and finish, get a job and save and get a bank account, and not get pregnent before being married to someone responsible. The tax payer should not have to pay for this trash most of whom migrated here looking for something free. Quit dealing drugs and killing each other and comitting all sorts of crimes. I am sick of liberal BS. This should have ended in 1964 with LBJ and his civil rights act. These government programs have accomplish nothing but deplete the treasury

Nobama

“I knew at home I wouldn’t have all the help and guidance I needed,” Vang said.

In OTHER WORDS mom & dad were no fiick1ng help. Must have just wanted that bigger WELFARE check. That’s all they are. Oh wait. “I need to blame everyone that works for the problems I created”.

Randy T.

As usual, if it’s an article about race all the righties come out swinging blaming the victims, coming up with ridiculous stereotypes and the ever popular target the phantom liberals. All liberals are out to get them. I’ve never see such a group of paranoid people. You can spend a half hour reading their comments most of which are just nonsense. They feel at home here.

barney911

Victims???

Randy T.

That’s your response?

barney911

My response was a simple question. Was waiting for your response.

Mo Gibs

Its quite simple Randy T. Many of these people are “poor and misfortunate” because of terrible life choices. In 2014 a certain demographics, had 72% of babies born out of wedlock and that number is escalating. Broken homes replicating broken homes. Nothing can be fixed until they themselves take the first step on fixing it.

A Tad Moore

Paranoid? Who are the ones screaming racial inequality?

tccitzen

What another influence article,non news , work hard, get an education, don’t commit crime, and remember socialism does not work!. Really feed up with this crap

Wanye Kest

As usual, all the recommendations are things others need to do/pay for. Not one recommendation for the perpetual victims, those who are ‘racially inequal’. And the solutions are always the same……mo money, mo money, mo money.

Tbone

Here’s a novel idea, stop blaming everyone else in life for your lack of success. Stop glorifying criminals, rap artists and thugs. Go to school and learn to talk, read and write. Parents should teach their children about earning a living, instead of expecting a living to be handed to you. Stop breaking the law and fighting the police when you get caught. Stop viewing welfare as a paycheck; someone else had to actually earn that money. Stop treating women as ho’s and maybe they will stop acting like one. And finally, stop treating children as a financial asset and a way to get more money, to pay the rent and maybe they will start acting like human beings, instead of foul mouthed little heathens

Tbone

The poor, have been voting democrat for over 50 years and they are still poor. Maybe try something else

Peter

Let’s bring disproportionately poor and uneducated people into the state that happen to be non-white. Next, complain about racism and racial inequality.

ShenanigansWatchDog

The solutions in this article are pretty typical Minnesotan. Not only that but the data is incredible misleading (right on Mitch) Instead of looking at WHY this is happening and considering some serious policy changes (such as taking a hard look at the war on drugs and our out of home placement policy strategies as well as suggesting a serious overhaul of our early childhood and k-12 education system…we get the same ‘ole suggestions: supports, liaisons, mentors and job subsidies. Its the same stuff of the past that keeps getting suggested by the democrats – funded by grants grants grants and more government grants. There is nothing new here. Spend more government $$ on solving things on the fringes. Focusing on the symptoms and not addressing the problems. Government institutions caused this problem in the first place. Too bad these suggestions won’t solve a thing. At least Julie Vang figured it out. It works for you, if you work hard. If you expect stuff to be handed to you so you can hang out in your college safe space….well you’ll end up trying to find a safe space under a bridge someday.

More in News

FRIDLEY, Minn. (AP) — Garrison Keillor looked comfortable on the small stage as he sang Christmas lullabies, told off-color limericks and spun a tale about a lutefisk dinner at the fictitious Lake Wobegon.

NEW YORK (AP) — Penny Marshall, who indelibly starred in the top-rated sitcom "Laverne & Shirley" before becoming the trailblazing director of smash-hit big-screen comedies such as "Big" and "A League of Their Own," has died. She was 75.

The St. Paul City Council recently approved $1 million in Cultural STAR grants to 33 organizations, while tweaking eligibility and reimbursement requirements for the twice-annual awards. The rule changes are intended to help small and mid-sized arts and nonprofit groups have a better shot at scoring or even applying for funding. Funding can range from $5,000 grants to $100,000 or...

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency said Tuesday it has taken the unusual step of denying denied a permit for a large hog farm proposed for Fillmore County in southeastern Minnesota because of the threat of adding to groundwater nitrate pollution in the geologically porous region. MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine said at a news conference that he denied the general...

It was supposed to be Lanette Johnson's day off from her job at Best Buy, one she would spend with her then-4-month-old son, Logan. But that day in October 2017, Johnson's manager said her Arlington, Va., store was scheduled for an important visit from corporate. Could Johnson find someone to watch Logan and come in? The day care Logan would...